Français
English 
Español 
You may be considering to establish a business in Hong Kong, or perhaps you already have. In either case, it is likely you will or have probably faced problems opening or maintaining a bank account, finding funding, or simply finding good value for money for services such as foreign currency management, credit and bank cards, or secure payments.
Indeed, seasoned market actors such as local and international retail banks may at times seem to live in a parallel world to that in which people are doing business. Where as in the past banks used to be partners of companies, helping them out by managing the risk of each company they invest in, nowadays because of pressure from worldwide and local regulation, they seem to have lost their identity. An example would be the deposit some banks request upon taking out a corporate credit card, essentially turning it into simply a card as no credit involved. Simply put because banks are trying to cover all their bases when it comes to risk, they are no longer fulfilling their role as a bank.
As a result, as nature abhors a vacuum, some FinTech entrepreneurs are now answering the banking needs of business as described above with a modern approach, new solutions, handy platforms and competitive fees. They aren’t banks, in fact they often are only licenced to do forex but, who said only banks can provide banking solutions? Considering the current situation with traditional banking services, it might be time to think out of the box and try other alternatives.
That said, in this article, we will focus on every company’s essential need: having a bank account. We have been warning you for a long time about the obstacles in Hong Kong when opening or maintaining a bank account in our previous articles (“HOW BANK RULES ARE SINKING HONG KONG BUSINESS ATTRACTION” and “WHAT IS GOIN
G ON WITH HONG KONG BANKS?”) but since then we have been looking for new potential solutions to provide you with
And actually, depending on your needs, there may be some alternatives.
If you have basic banking needs such as receiving and issuing payments, internet banking or foreign exchange currency management, a collection account may be part of the equation to answer your needs. But what is it?A collection account is a sub-banking account used to collect funds in different currencies from local or overseas countries. You cannot do credit but as a client, it will allow you to use a unique sub-account to receive or send out payments as well as to manage your account online.
Collection accounts may be provided by companies without a banking license, which means that they do not have the same compliance requirements. However, it is important to note that these sub-banking accounts are opened under provider’s own account held with an existing bank. So, while the banks may be okay with the provider giving you an account, you will still need to provide some proof but to a much lesser degree that you are a clean business. This also means you take the risk of not having control over the account, but on the upside, if the bank goes bankrupt you still have protection.
Now, in addition to your collection account, you may need a bank card and there are now debit card solutions independent from banks, with a nice interface to follow-up your expenses.
On top of this, there are also new solutions for your funding needs. Either at an individual level, for you as an entrepreneur, or at a corporate level.
While traditional banks may allow you to get banking facilities such as credit, cheque book, credit cards (you can get debit cards without bank account) or investment portfolio management, these services are not essential for people willing to incorporate a company with simple activities such a consulting or classic trading. This is the point of this article: if you do not need the full range of traditional banking services, you may prefer innovative solutions.
As you just read, FinTech is doing well in Hong Kong and you may find some good alternatives depending on your needs. At ORBIS, we have always wanted to serve our client and this is the reason why we are now in contact with companies able to provide you services such as collection accounts, foreign currency management, debit cards or even funding.
If the above services match your needs, note that FinTech solutions are often much easier and faster than traditional banks. On top of this, you will have access to cheaper commissions on banking services!
If you want to go for these modern solutions, contact us and we will be able to coordinate.
Benjamin DELOISON, ORBIS HK Consultant